According to Sanatana Dharma, Dakṣa is one of the sons of Lord Brahma, who, after creating the ten Manas Putras, created Daksha, Dharma, Kamadeva and Agni from his right thumb, chest, heart, and eyebrows, respectively. Artwork shows him as an obese man with a stocky body, protruding belly, and the head of an ibex-like creature with spiral horns.
Daughters
According to Vishnu Purana and Padma Purana, Daksha and his wife Prasuti had 24 daughters. The names of these 24 daughters are:
According to Matsya Purana, Daksha and his wife Panchajani had 62 daughters, not one of whom resembled their father:
10 of those daughters were married to Dharma,
13 to sage Kashyapa,
27 to Chandra,
4 to Arishtanemi,
1 to Kama,
1 to lord Shiva,
2 to sons of sage Bhrigu,
2 to sage Angiras,
2 to Krisasva.
According to Padma Purana, when Daksha felt the number of women are still not sufficient, he decided to have 60 more daughters. Sati was the daughter married to Shiva. The 10 daughters married to Dharma are:
The twenty-seven wives of Chandra are the twenty-seven Nakshatras or Constellations on the Moon's orbit. Of his 27 wives, Chandra was only interested in his wife, Rohini.
Story of Sati and Shiva
One of the daughters of Daksha was Sati, who had always wished to marry Shiva. Daksha forbade it, but later reluctantly allowed her and she married Shiva. She found in Shiva a doting and loving husband.
Daksha Yagna
Daksha Yagna was an important turning point in the creation and development of sects in Hinduism. It is the story behind the 'Stala Purana' of Shakti Peethas. There are 51 Shakti Peethas shrines all over South Asia. The story replaced Goddess Sati by Shree Parvati as Shiva's consort and lead to the story of Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya. carrying the corpse of his consort Sati Once, Daksha organised the Brihaspatistava Yajna and intentionally avoided Shiva and Sati. Even though discouraged by Shiva, who told her not to go to a ceremony performed by Daksha where she and her husband were not invited; the parental bond made Sati ignore social etiquette and her husband's wishes. Sati went to the ceremony alone. She was snubbed by Daksha and insulted by him in front of the guests. Sati, unable to bear further insult, ran into the Sacrificial fire and immolated herself. Some other legends say that she invoked Yogic flames & immersing herself in it, burnt to death. Shiva, upon learning about the terrible incident, in his wrath invoked Virabhadra and Bhadrakali by plucking a lock of hair and thrashing it on the ground. Virabhadra and the Bhoota ganas marched south and destroyed all the premises. Daksha was decapitated, and the Yagna shaala was devastated during the rampage. Bhrigu, the chief priest of the Yajna, invoked the Ribhus to fight the Ganas, but the former was tied to a pillar & his beard was forcibly plucked off. According to Horace Hayman Wilson, "Vahni's hands were cut, Bhaga's eyes were plucked out, Pusha had broken teeth, Yama's mace was broken, Saraswati & the other Goddesses' noses were cut, Soma was pummelled, while Yajneshwara, the Indra of Swayambhuva Manvantara, tried to escape in the form of a deer, but was decapitated. Daksha also tried to escape, but Virabhadra held him & cut off his head. The head was thrown to the fire, & Virabhadra returned to Kailasa, along with his hordes. Later, Shiva's anger cooled down, & he forgave Daksha & brought him back to life, but with a goat's head. Bhrigu & the others were restored their respective parts, which they lost. With Vishnu as the chief priest, Daksha offered a share of the obalations to Shiva, & the sacrifice was successfully completed. Vishnu attempted to pacify Shiva, who was in deep grief upon seeing the half-burned corpse of his beloved wife. However, Shiva, unable to part with Sati, carried her corpse on his shoulder and wandered about the world. Vishnu restored calm and rid of Shiva's attachment by severing Sati's body into multiple pieces with his divine discus, the Sudarshan Chakra. Sati's severed body parts fell in various places where Shiva had traveled. The places where Sati Devi's body parts fell came to be known as Shakti Peethas. Much later, in the Vaiwaswatha Manvantara, Daksha is reborn as the son of the Prachetas & Marisha. He married Panchajani, also known as Asikni, & had 60 daughters, 5000 sons named Haryashwas, & 1000 sons named Shabalashwas. The details of the 60 daughters are given above.
